Keyword: Salute the Sarge

Salutos Amigos will look to win what has been an elusive graded stakes score outside of his favorite venue of Aqueduct Racetrack May 21 in the $150,000 Maryland Sprint Handicap (gr. III) at Pimlico Race Course.

The Xpressbet Breeders' Cup Sprint (gr. I) field size appears to have grown by one after Salutos Amigos launched a powerful rally down the center of the track to take the $200,000 Bold Ruler Handicap (gr. III) Oct. 25 from Be

No one has been able to touch the swift J Be K in his five prior sprint races, but 10 other 3-year-olds intend to give it a try in the $250,000 NetJets King's Bishop Stakes (gr. I) at Saratoga Aug. 23.

Golden Spikes, on the Triple Crown trail earlier this year, is beginning to find a niche as a sprinter, as he captured the $250,000 Carry Back Stakes July 12 at Calder Race Course for his second win in a row.

If trainer Julio Canani keeps winning as easily as he did with Two Step Salsa in the $107,200 Lazaro Barrera Memorial (gr. III) May 18, it may be quite some time before he shaves that beard he's been growing during the month-old Hollywood Park meeting.

Trainer Eric Guillot has long believed that his 3-year-old Salute the Sarge is most comfortable as a late-running sprinter. After Sarge's most recent route attempt ended in a flop at Keeneland, the grade II winner returns to the short game in the $100,000 Lazaro Barrera Memorial Stakes (gr. III) on Hollywood Park's Cushion Track May 18.

Trainer Todd Pletcher said April 18 that he has not decided when he will ship Monba and Cowboy Cal, his one-two finishers in the Toyota Blue Grass (gr. I), to Churchill Downs for the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) and is considering giving the two colts their final works at Keeneland the weekend before the Run for the Roses.

For several 3-year-olds pointing toward the $325,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes (gr. II) at Keeneland, the April 19 event offers a final chance at graded earnings and entry into the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I). But the horse whose form points to a likely win in the 1 1/16-mile event has no aspirations of making the Derby -- and he could spoil the plans of those who do when a field of 11 goes postward in the final Derby prep of the season.

Trainer Eric Guillot was refreshingly candid during an April 15 teleconference hosted by the National Thoroughbred Racing Association, calling his horse "one of the 15 who might not belong," but saying a trip to the Kentucky Derby Presented by Yum! Brands (gr. I) is definitely under consideration for Salute the Sarge.

Jet Set Racing Stable's Tomcito, preparing for Saturday's $325,000 Coolmore Lexington Stakes (gr. II), worked three furlongs out of the gate in :34.60 and galloped out a half-mile in :46.80 with Manfreddy Guzman up Tuesday morning at Keeneland.

Dixie Chatter, slowed this season by treatment for a throat ulcer, produced the strongest effort of his career in winning the $250,000 Norfolk Stakes (gr. I) on the Santa Anita Cushion Track for trainer Richard Mandella.

With the field softened up significantly by the loss of three leading contenders, Salute the Sarge could be in a prime spot to earn his first grade I victory in Oak Tree's $250,000 Norfolk Stakes (gr. I) for 2-year-olds at Santa Anita Sept. 30.

In an evenly matched field of 2-year-olds, Georgie Boy broke through to turn the tables on his rival Salute the Sarge, winning a blanket finish to the $250,000 Del Mar Futurity (gr. I) on Sept. 5, closing day of the 2007 summer season at the Southern California track.

Undefeated Salute the Sarge, winner of the Best Pal Stakes (gr. II) for 2-year-olds over the Polytrack three weeks ago, faces the biggest test of his brief career when he takes on 12 challengers in the $250,000 Del Mar Futurity (gr. I) on the final day of the 2007 season Sept. 5.

Undefeated Salute the Sarge, taking advantage of a couple of key scratches, wore down odds-on favorite Georgie Boy close to home to win the $147,000 Best Pal Stakes (gr. II) for 2-year-olds on the Del Mar Polytrack Aug. 12.

Salute the Sarge surged between horses nearing the eighth pole and defeated Leonides to win Wednesday's $114,900 Hollywood Juvenile Championship (gr. III) by a nose in an upset under leading jockey Michael Baze.